Australians will soon be better connected than before with the federal government’s new key commitments under the October 2022-23 Federal Budget. 

Under the Budget, the federal government is committed to increasing connectivity, bridging the digital divide, improving mobile coverage and supporting communities during natural disasters. 

Investments are being made to Australia’s broadband network with a $2.4 billion equity injected into the Boost Fibre and Fast Track the NBN Repair Job program. 

This will expand fibre and enable access to speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second to nearly 10 million homes and businesses by late 2025, bringing full-fibre access to a further 1.5 million premises across the country. 

The Budget will also provide a targeted affordability initiative where over 30,000 families with no internet at home will be provided a free NBN service for a year. 

Meanwhile, the budget for the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia will see over $1.1 billion delivered to rural and regional communities. 

The plan will allocate the provided investment towards expanding regional mobile coverage under the Regional Connectivity Program and improve the resilience of communications systems with an independent national audit and the Regional Tech Hub. 

$480 million will also be delivered to upgrade 120,000 satellite premises to the NBN Fixed Wireless network.  

This will boost the Fixed Wireless network with speeds up to 100 Mbps to 250 Mbps, relieving the NBN satellite services’ capacity. 

The Federal Budget will also deliver funds to programs such as the Peri-Urban Mobile Program (PUMP), the Mobile Black Spot Program and the First Nations Communications and Digital Inclusion. 

Aside from broadband improvements and investments to regional programs, the federal government will also deliver a 5-year funding terms for Australia’s national broadcasters, further safeguarding their independence while supporting long-term strategic planning and innovation in high-quality content provision and service delivery. 

Local news, community broadcasting and jobs will also be supported under the Federal Budget, with millions of funds going into the Regional and Local Newspaper Publishers Program (RLNP), Community Broadcasting Program and the News Media Assistance Program (News MAP). 

ACMA will also be receiving $27.7 million under the Budget to deliver a new spectrum management system and auction capability. 

Online safety for children is also prioritised as $6 million was invested into making online learning tools freely available to schools and keep children safe online. 

Source: Minister for Communications media release. Content has been edited for style and length.

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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